


Breathless

by orphan_account



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Awkward Tali, F/F, Paranoid Shepard, Pining, so much love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-14
Updated: 2016-08-14
Packaged: 2018-08-08 16:57:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7765882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tali loved her, always loved her. When she realized this, it was too late; she was already gone, lost in the stars.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Breathless

She was just a scared kid, a _suit rat_ on pilgrimage. When she first saw Shepard, she had been scared out of her mind, hands jittery from nerves and lack of sleep. Whether it was the chems her suit was pumping into her blood or terror, something about Shepard awed her, a goddess bathed in red light and a pistol in hand. If she didn't know better, Tali would say she had fallen for her right then and there, standing over the still-warm bodies of assassins.

 

The Normandy was heaven; advanced human/turian tech, engineers who understood her, her friends, and Shepard. Especially Shepard, who would wrestle Garrus in the shuttle bay much to everyone's amusement. Tali was the most enthralled, enraptured by the way Marcy's muscles rippled down her back under her tight-fitting shirt, the feral grin on her face when she pinned Garrus to the floor, and, _Keelah,_ the shape of her arms when she threw her hands up in victory. Marceline Shepard was truly a warrior goddess, a ferocious asari idol embodied in a human. So, you could say Tali had a bit of a crush. 

 

It didn't help that the Commander insisted Tali come along for almost every mission, claiming she always needed her "tech expert." Tali always agreed, wringing her hands and, for once, joyous the mask wasn't see-through, hiding the delirious grin that painted her face or how her blush made her cheeks glow purple. During the missions, Marcy was a fine-tuned weapon, flinging biotics and charging into battle. Tali made an effort to take down the shields of targets before Marcy reached them, and basked in the praise Shepard rained onto her through the radio.

 

After missions was the best, Tali could work peacefully on her calibrations and upgrades or sit quietly with Shepard, sipping tea. Tali drank hers through a straw, the dextro-based drink only causing a mild tingle on her tongue; Tali never told Shepard. They talked from anything from Tali's suit upgrades to Shepard's time in the military, once Shepard teasingly asked about boys back on the flotilla, eyebrows waggling. Tali sputtered and Shepard laughed, and it wasn't brought up again.

 

Once "Christmas" rolled around (it wasn't really the time of year for it, but Marcy insisted), the whole crew banded together for "Secret Santa." Wrex gifted Garrus a ritual mating totem, since only a "krogan woman could love that ugly mug." Kaiden handmade Ashley a sweater using the wool of an animal native to the asari homeworld, Ashley cooing over the make and softness. Garrus gave Liara a sniper rifle almost too big for her to hold, the paneling expertly etched with scenery from Palaven, the gleaming bits of metal from the rifle's mechanics twisting artfully. Shyly, Ashley gave Tali a tiny chip to add to her omnitool, admitting she asked engineering for help on how to begin. Opening the program, a basic model of an attack drone blinked to life, easily editable and designed for assault. Shepard handed Kaiden a bottle of wine that looked very, very old, claiming it was made by her family back when her colony still existed. Marcy smiled sadly, and the party was a little quieter after that.

 

When the party was winding down, Wrex snoring (and drunk) inside the Mako, Tali slipped her gift into Shepard's hand, a small holo-pad, sliding from picture to picture with a small, clicking button on the side. It contained images of the crew, Garrus trapped in a headlock from Wrex, Kaiden gazing thoughtfully out to the Citadel skyline, Liara and Ashley draped over each other in a hug, grinning cheekily at the camera. Lastly was an image of Shepard and Tali, Marcy's arm thrown casually over the smaller quarian as they shared in a joke, the image snapped on the shuttle back from a mission. Marcy smiled, embracing Tali with tears in her eyes. Before and after every mission Shepard could be heard cycling through the images, sometimes unconsciously, the _click_ of the button mechanic following her through the halls of the Normandy. Garrus joked that she couldn't sneak up on him anymore, now that she had a bell. After Virmire, Shepard paused a little longer on Kaiden's photo.

 

The time spent on the Normandy was the best in her life, Tali turning from her distant hero worship to a bit of a hero herself. She had left her mark on history, at the side of Commander Shepard, following her doubtlessly across the galaxy. Just when Tali began to think Shepard was immortal, her dream was ripped away by a high-powered particle beam, her home crumpled into twisted metal and fire. Tali watched her Commander writhe in space alone, bruising her knuckles against the glass of the escape pod before Garrus pulled her away.

 

The galaxy didn't feel so safe anymore.

 

 


End file.
